Tuesday, 9 August 2011

Carrying on my daily little joys - the things we so often forget (especially amidst these awful, shocking riots) - that should make you smile. It's another biggie, as I haven't had time to write these up to my blog for aaaaagees. Here goes:

29th June - Playing childhood games. Hopscotch anyone?

She's clearly feeling pretty pleased with herself.

30th June - Cycling somewhere in the sunshine. And then feeling smug for being so eco-friendly.
1st July - A dog lying on your foot.
2nd July - When something isn't as bad as you'd thought it would be.
3rd July - Making plans with your friends.

4th July - Pampering yourself. Sing it with me: "I feel pretty! Oh so pretty..."
5th July - Being made to feel at home somewhere that's, well, not home.
6th July - When nail varnish comes off quickly and easily with remover. But hasn't chipped at all. Yes!
7th July - Unexpected free samples. Definite student win.
8th July - When you guess something in an exam then find out it was right.
9th July - When people appreciate all your effort.
10th July - Not being in a rush to get somewhere. I find this somewhat rare, to be honest.

so preeetty.

11th July - When you've made something neat and organised. And preferably colour-coded and in alphabetical order :)
12th July - Deleting enough emails so your inbox isn't nearly full. And you stop getting those annoying reminders!
13th July - Putting on fresh pyjamas.
14th July - Having your hair brushed.
15th July - Having the house to yourself. And thus the option to do a Phoebe (from Friends... who else?) and walk round naked if so desired.

Impressive indeed.

16th July - The first bite into a piece of chewing gum.
17th July - The "night before going on holiday" feeling.
18th July - Walking into an air-conditioned shop when it's hot.

19th July - Being really into a book.
20th July - Swimming in the sea. So much more fun than a pool, am I right?
21st July - When something lives up to its hype.

22nd July - Jumping into a pool on a hot day.

23rd July - Freshly squeezed orange juice. So. Good.
24th July - Forgetting the "real world" while on holiday.
25th July - Showering after coming back from the beach. Bye bye sand, hello clean.
26th July - Hair lightening in the sun. And then being asked by everyone if you've dyed it and triumphantly stating it's natural.
27th July - When a good parking space frees up just as you arrive.
28th July - A cooling breeze on a hot day.

29th July - Making contact with friends after ages.
30th July - Coming home after a holiday. Hello, pink fluffy dressing gown of comfort.
31st July - When people notice your tan.
1st August - When you hear a passer-by say they like something you're wearing. My hot pink jeans, to be specific.
2nd August - Finding a cheap deal.
3rd August - When people are interested and ask about you.
4th August - Getting on well with a new person.

Do I hear a nom-diddly-nom?

5th August - Keeping up little traditions. I ALWAYS go out for Thai whenever I see one of my friends. And ALWAYS have the Pad Thai.
6th August - A catch-up with your friends over lunch. And feeling very civilised doing so.
7th August - Finally having the time to do something.
8th August - Wearing new make-up for the first time.
9th August - Clearing out old things. As hard as it is to let them go... *sniff*

And that, dear readers, brings us up to today! I hope that's cheered you up even just a little bit, and if you like it, why not check out my last lot of micropleasures here. Oh, and do comment with micropleasures of your own... I'd love to hear them :)

Saturday, 6 August 2011

Working at more! has been such a fab insight. Today I got a peek in the beauty cupboard - oh god, I wish I had my own one at home – it’s full of pretty sparkly things, all lined up in colour order! Ahhhh… But geez I’ve been ready for bed – mentally and physically – by about 9pm every evening. It’s. So. Exhausting. How these ladies do it every day (and avoid looking like zombies) is beyond me. Nuff respect.

Sure, sometimes it can feel like as a fashion work experiencee you’re doing more tea runs, tidying and photocopying than anything fashiony or journalism-y… but then one of the fab ladies calls you an “assistant supremo” and you realize your free labour is appreciated, and you remember just how lucky you are to have this opportunity.

And as I sit here (yes, actually at a desk, as opposed to under an avalanche of clothes in the fashion returns corner!) in the office, I feel really positive about the past two weeks. I can’t deny that it’s been hard work, always desperately trying not to mess up but to make the best impression possible, but I’ve met some lovely, interesting people, and feel grateful for the whole experience. I’m sad to leave more!, but with experience and advice that money can’t buy as a result of my time here, I’m now uber excited about the future and what it might bring. Watch this space :)

The rest of my first week here unfortunately has featured fewer celebs (after the excitement of last week’s Big Kiss!), but consisted predominantly of – you guessed it – fashion returns. However, these were interspersed with price checking, liaising with PRs (and getting a kick out of saying “Hello this is Rachel from more!”), tidying the crazy fashion cupboards (a mammoth task), packing clothes, unpacking clothes, getting deliveries and hanging up clothes. After my first week, I could have sworn that if I ever saw another clothes hanger I would cry. Needless to say, I have since encountered such hangers, and don’t panic, I held back the tears.

It’s brilliant working with the ladies whose fashion wisdom I read every week, but I’m struggling to keep up with the constant stream of freelancers, part-timers and interns coming and going. I didn’t realise quite how many people were involved with the mag, but I guess that’s what work experience is all about – learning what really goes on. I’m definitely learning a lot while at more!, one of the major new experiences I’ve had being assisting on a fashion shoot. Well two, actually. When I found out that I’d get to go on one I may have let out a little squeal. Getting to see the stunning models (making me feel like an ogre in comparison) transformed by such skilled hair and make-up artists, watching the photographers do their thing, and learning how to use a steamer (I now really want one myself!) has been invaluable. With out Diet Cokes in hand on set, I felt like I was on an ASOS advert… and was loving it.

Unfortunately, one of the other work experience girls had to leave half way through last week, but now her place had already been filled by a newbie – it seems it’s not hard to find fellow ambitious girls willing to work for free to get a foot in, leg up or kick start in their careers. Just makes me realise how much I need to make the most of this opportunity really… I wonder what the rest of this week will bring!

[This blog was written by me, but I have copied it from more!'s tumblr page].

It would seem I’m very lucky with the week I’m here, because it was “More!’s Big Kiss” today! Apparently this sort of fun event isn’t a weekly occurrence (not that every day at more! isn’t a ball, I'm sure) so I was super excited, even if I didn’t really understand what the “Big Kiss” was, and was slightly scared about being made to kiss the face off some random stranger… However, there were free donuts, awesome T-shirts, and (minor) celebs – most of us work experiencees had a bit of a fit when we eventually got up the courage to talk to Made In Chelsea’s Fredrik and Frances! And we got a cheeky pic to make all our friends very jealous (mwah ha ha!)

Goodie bags!

Male models and Mickey Mouse. Standard.

Ballooons!

[This blog was written by me, but I have copied it from more!'s tumblr page].

I don’t need to remind you all of how difficult it is to get any job these days (the papers seem to be chock-a-block with new depressing stories of youth unemployment, day in day out – snooze) let alone in the media and fashion industries, so when this ambitious young thing found out months ago that she’d bagged a two week slot of work experience in the fashion department at more! mag (which I read every week without fail), I was unsurprisingly over the moon. Fast forward through a casual few weeks of finishing school (A-levels, shmay-levels, eh?), and Monday 4th July had finally arrived.

After an early start to get the train down to London from the Midlands, a stressful tube journey and a sprint through Covent Garden (managing to resist getting distracted by the amazing shops nearby) with an awkward-sized (but very cute – pink polka dots!) suitcase, I arrived at more!’s offices, stomach full of butterflies. As I waited in the reception, mindlessly flicking through the new mag (the issue that hadn’t even gone on sale yet, whoop whoop!), two other stylish young ladies arrived and sat down next to me. I took the plunge and asked if they were here for work experience too, and they were. I hadn’t known whether to expect to be the only work experiencee, but it turns out there’s sort of a constant stream of us coming and going.

The more! offices have a lovely atmosphere, with lots of stylish ladies (and two lucky guys) beavering away at their desks. There’s also a communal food table in the corridor, which apparently is usually full of tempting cakes, chocolates and other random yummies, which I know I’ll fail to resist every time I walk past. I have no idea where all this food comes from (there were a load of random Danone Activias!), but if I worked here full time, I imagine I’d be obese within a matter of weeks. No joke.

Fashion returns, anyone?

After a quick tour, we were told to jump into our main job: the dreaded fashion returns (dun dun DUN!) I’m not going to sugar-coat it – fashion returns are tedious and not-exactly-interesting, but hey, we can’t complain. I know that everyone starts at the bottom, and all the fashion ladies that I majorly admire have done their fair share of fashion returns, so you just get on with it. And get on with it we did…

And that was day one! Exhausting, exciting and interesting… I can’t wait for day two!

[This blog was written by me, but I have copied it from more!'s tumblr page.]

I know I've been somewhat absent on the blog front for the past few weeks (and am reeeaaally sorry about it), but I've just been super duper busy working hard on my internships (and working less hard on holiday in Portugal! Well, I did work hard on my tan... that's for sure.)

My first work placement this Summer was in the fashion department at more! mag, and I was really excited that after reading this lil blog and my tweets, one of the senior ladies there asked me to write a a blog for their new tumblr page about my work experience, with the hope of making it a regular feature of their interns. I thought this was a fab idea, and was chuffed to be asked! I mean, who doesn't want to know what goes on behind the scenes at glossy mags?!

So I'm going to copy my blog for you from their tumblr to stellarstudentstyle... and you can check it out with all its pics on their page here. Enjoy, and let me know what you think :)

Welcome to Handbags and Cupcakes. My name's Rachel and I'm a 25-year-old British journalist with a penchant for peanut butter and anything pink. Stick around to follow my adventures in London and further afield, with a lot of delicious food along the way.